Honor Ford-smith

Biography

I grew up and was educated in Kingston, Jamaica where I lived most of my life on the Hope Road, ironically built on top of the land occupied by a slave plantation that no doubt long ago contributed much to English coffers. One day, a Rastaman called Bob Marley moved into a house across the street. From there he poured out his songs, changing popular music and representations of African diaspora forever. What a lesson! My research and artistic work is linked by a focus on performance and social change. Initially focusing on gender, class, drama, popular culture and popular education, I became active in the Caribbean women’s movement creating plays and popular dramas dealing with critical social issues. I worked in collaborative theatre, collected oral testimonies about women’s lives and researched the contribution of the Jamaican women’s movements to anti-colonialism.

Research Interest

"Performance and social movements Race, gender, nation and colonialism and post-colonialism Caribbean societies and their diasporas Community and environmental arts and education"